23 Zulkaedah 1431H
it's finally going to be Winter, after soooo many "false alarms"...
anw, school just started last Sunday. only one week down, but quite a lot of the syllabus were already covered. dah final year ni Khadijah. tak boleh main2! gotta optimise every single of ur remaining moments in Syria, insyaAllah!
meanwhile, been trying to read up as much as I can (beyond the school's syllabus). so many good books to read, n as always, there seems to be this "sinister voice" inside me that says: "buku sekolah tak bace lagi, nk baca buku lain kononnn".
fyi eh mr.sinister voice: i've just read an article few weeks back, about how we should always tell ourselves that we are BIGGER than what we think we are (in terms of capabilities n potentials). نحن أكبر ممّا نتصوّر
the writer, Dr. Mohd. Khair as-Sya'al says that: normally, students start studying for their exams at the last minute. so if u have 8 months of school term (minus the 4 months Summer vacation), it means that u've used only 1/8 of ur capacity, n yet are still able to pass. there's the 7/8 portion which can be filled with other activities (on top of continuous revision, because as Muslims, we should aim to SCORE n strive for the best, n not simply settle for a "pass" -will touch on this in future posts insyaAllah. tgh semangat ni. hehe. just that i've other things to attend to after this. nk terbang~).
n one of the activities that we, the Ummat Iqra' should n MUST do is obviously: reading! :D
on that note, I'm currently reading "Mukmin Profesional -Celik Mata Hati" by Pahrol Mohamad Juoi. it says here that:
Ciri-ciri Individu Yang Cemerlang:
1- Kecerdasan Rohani (Spiritual Quotient), juga disebut "Kemantapan Iman".
2-Kewibawaan dan harga diri yang tinggi.
3-Penghayatan misi hidup yang tepat dan jelas.
4-Kecerdasan Emosi (Emotional Quotient), juga disebut "Kemahiran Interpersonal".
5-Proaktif dan bertindak segera.
6-Pengasih.
7-Terbaik untuk semua urusan.
8-Bertersan belajar.
9-Disiplin dan motivasi diri.
10. Peningkatan berterusan dan optimis.
I've only read half of the book so far, but feel so motivated already alhamdulillah. truly recommend the book for those who are feeling demotivated n down. semoga semangat kan berbuah kesungguhan dan pelaksanaan -bukan setakat semangat tahi ayam je eh Khadijah!
....
meanwhile, more students are coming to stay at the dorm. to date, there are 38 students.
just want to share an interesting incident that happened in my room recently. a Russian friend asked a Chinese friend to change her alarm tone, which is a Chinese song sang by a female singer (from the tune, u can tell that it's definitely not a religious song la. hehe). so this Russian friend was saying how she was disturbed n distracted with the song, esp when she was up praying tahajjud in the early morning, n the alarm suddenly rang! n how "the malaikat (angels) will quickly leave our room!".
Subhanallah... that incident really touched me somehow. yes, we are all aware that angels won't be at a place where even the slightest sign of ma'siat is present (be it in the form of pictures/songs/statues/action, etc.). yet, how many times have I myself, have neglected 'amr ma'ruf nai munkar, n remain silent upon hearing those songs being played by others. not to mention the times when I myself used to have such songs as my ringtone during the past years before I came to Syria (teringat letak message tone lagu "One in A Million" dulu. tsk.).
Ya Allah, ampunilah dosa-dosa dan kelalaianku selama ini...
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
The Change!
11 Zulkaedah 1431H
19 days have passed since I moved.... from Hannan to Dar al-Hajibiah, the Girls' Dormitory.
Alhamdulillah, so far, I like it over here. It's quite a big change, really. not only in terms of the location (it's slightly further from Abu Nour, and nearer to jami' Muhyiddin, the first jami' in Syria that I fell in love with), but also in terms of the daily rountine that I've to undergo as one of the residents of the dorm. from a "House Leader of Hannan", I'm now one of the newbies at Hajibiah -despite the fact that I'm going to start my 4th n final year of kuliyyah this Sunday. out of the almost 30 sisters, only 3 of us are going to be in the 4th year, including myself. Cooking is now an option, not a necessity once per week (like in Hannan), since cooked n uncooked food are provided daily for us. 4 times per week, we've to do some basic cleaning chores, which usually take 15 to 30 mins). everyday, there's a 30 mins Dzikir session, where all of us will sit together and do the istighfar, selawat, du'a, and listening to Qur'anic recitation.
The musyrifaat (wardens) are very nice, alhamdulilah -altho definitely there're those who are more strict than others, n others who are blessed with more motherly nature. haa!
A major difference is the curfew. last time, I'm free to go out of the house as early as I want (e.g. shortly after the call for Fajr), but now, the earliest I can leave is 7am on weekdays n 6:45am on weekends (on special request from the mudirah, after my request for 6:30am was deemed as 'too early n might be dangerous for me..'.
also, now, I've to be back by 8pm, compared to 10:30pm which used to be the curfew set by the Singapore Students Assembly in Syria (for Summer; in Winter, the curfew is 9:30pm).
which means, there are some lessons at the jami' that I'm now unable to attend till the end, or unable to attend at all. Which, of course, I've taken into consideration before I made the decision to move :) I've weighed the pros n cons, n did my istikharah. insyaAllah, it'll be the best decision for me.
I'm in Room #1. currently, there are 9 of us in the room (I think my room is the biggest one out of the 4). one from Fattani, 2 from Dagistan (Russia), 1 from Turkistan, 1 from M'sia, 2 from China, 1 from Chechnya, n me :)
Alhamdulillah, I'm impressed with some sisters who consistently wake up for tahajjud, n stay awake after Fajr with dzikir n recitation/memorisation of the Qur'an. They really ignited the 'competitive' spirit in me. kalau dorang mampu buat tu semua, mampu bangun Subuh tak payah nak tunggu org kejut, mampu mujahadah sedemikian rupa, Khadijah pun nak! Khadijah pun boleh insyaAllah! :D
one interesting n beautiful thing that i truly love abt here (n particularly in my room), are the sisters who will begin to wake up all the rest the moment the azan of Fajr came to an end. n that's not including the warden who's on duty on that day, n Nusaibah - a lovely sister from Fattani who will still wake up for Fajr n wake others up as well, even when she herself is having her daurah syahriyyah (period laa). so hardworking n determined. sayang dia~ terserlah sinar keikhlasan di wajah dia ^-^
not to forget the spirit of performing prayers in jama'ah. i loike~
19 days have passed since I moved.... from Hannan to Dar al-Hajibiah, the Girls' Dormitory.
Alhamdulillah, so far, I like it over here. It's quite a big change, really. not only in terms of the location (it's slightly further from Abu Nour, and nearer to jami' Muhyiddin, the first jami' in Syria that I fell in love with), but also in terms of the daily rountine that I've to undergo as one of the residents of the dorm. from a "House Leader of Hannan", I'm now one of the newbies at Hajibiah -despite the fact that I'm going to start my 4th n final year of kuliyyah this Sunday. out of the almost 30 sisters, only 3 of us are going to be in the 4th year, including myself. Cooking is now an option, not a necessity once per week (like in Hannan), since cooked n uncooked food are provided daily for us. 4 times per week, we've to do some basic cleaning chores, which usually take 15 to 30 mins). everyday, there's a 30 mins Dzikir session, where all of us will sit together and do the istighfar, selawat, du'a, and listening to Qur'anic recitation.
The musyrifaat (wardens) are very nice, alhamdulilah -altho definitely there're those who are more strict than others, n others who are blessed with more motherly nature. haa!
A major difference is the curfew. last time, I'm free to go out of the house as early as I want (e.g. shortly after the call for Fajr), but now, the earliest I can leave is 7am on weekdays n 6:45am on weekends (on special request from the mudirah, after my request for 6:30am was deemed as 'too early n might be dangerous for me..'.
also, now, I've to be back by 8pm, compared to 10:30pm which used to be the curfew set by the Singapore Students Assembly in Syria (for Summer; in Winter, the curfew is 9:30pm).
which means, there are some lessons at the jami' that I'm now unable to attend till the end, or unable to attend at all. Which, of course, I've taken into consideration before I made the decision to move :) I've weighed the pros n cons, n did my istikharah. insyaAllah, it'll be the best decision for me.
I'm in Room #1. currently, there are 9 of us in the room (I think my room is the biggest one out of the 4). one from Fattani, 2 from Dagistan (Russia), 1 from Turkistan, 1 from M'sia, 2 from China, 1 from Chechnya, n me :)
Alhamdulillah, I'm impressed with some sisters who consistently wake up for tahajjud, n stay awake after Fajr with dzikir n recitation/memorisation of the Qur'an. They really ignited the 'competitive' spirit in me. kalau dorang mampu buat tu semua, mampu bangun Subuh tak payah nak tunggu org kejut, mampu mujahadah sedemikian rupa, Khadijah pun nak! Khadijah pun boleh insyaAllah! :D
one interesting n beautiful thing that i truly love abt here (n particularly in my room), are the sisters who will begin to wake up all the rest the moment the azan of Fajr came to an end. n that's not including the warden who's on duty on that day, n Nusaibah - a lovely sister from Fattani who will still wake up for Fajr n wake others up as well, even when she herself is having her daurah syahriyyah (period laa). so hardworking n determined. sayang dia~ terserlah sinar keikhlasan di wajah dia ^-^
not to forget the spirit of performing prayers in jama'ah. i loike~